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IRISH GARDENING 



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IV was tlio Kiiii^'s pleasure (.luiiiii^ his Majesty's 

 recent visit to Ireland to bestow tlie honour 

 of knij^htlioocl upon tlie " Keeper" ot iIk' 

 Roval Botanic Ciardens, (.iiasnexin. This dis- 

 tinctive mark of royal ta\our, so s^ratityiui; lo 

 Mr. Moore's friends and fellow-workers, has 

 been received with universal applause by the 

 Horticultural Press ot tlic ihreo kinj^doins. 

 It is ij^enerally felt that the bestowal ol' knis^ht- 

 hood upon the official head of Horticulture in 

 Ireland was not only a richly-deserved personal 

 reward for professional devotion lo the public 

 service, but a i^racious recoj^nilion ot the 

 claims of Horticulture itself. We send oiu- 

 own hearty coni^ratulations to Sir Frederick 

 and Lady Moore — a g-reeting" in which every 

 reader of Irish Gardening will most certainly 

 wish to be personally associated. Since the 

 issue of the first number up to the present 

 date the pages of Irish Gardening have been 

 enriched by the writings of " Moore of Glas- 

 nevin," as he is affectionately called by his 

 associates in the Horticultural world. Dur- 

 ing recent years in this country remarkable 

 progress has been made in Fruit-growing- and 

 in Horticulture generally, and this development, 

 as every one knows, has been largely due to 

 the inspiration and untiring energy of Sir 

 Frederick Moore. 



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The report of the Development Commission 

 that has been sittings for the last nine months is 

 now published. It is an important document, 

 and its findings are being- read with much 

 interest throughout the three king-doms. We 

 are glad to find that the matter of agricultural 

 research has engaged the serious attention of 

 the commissioners, and that very large sums of 

 money are to be devoted to the encouragement 

 of this important branch of national develop- 

 ment. Out of a total of ^165,000, no less than 

 ^105,000 is to be devoted to agricultural re- 

 search and instruction in England and Wales. 

 Cambridge University alone is to receive a 

 yearly grant of ;^4,ooo for the prosecution of 

 original research. Scotland receives a lump 

 sum of;^6o,ooo, with an annual grant ofj^5,ooo, 

 while Ireland's share is put down at^g,ooo a 

 year, with an advance of ^^25,000 10^30,000 

 (with a promise of more) for the purchase of 

 and for forestry purposes. 



We earnesth luipe thai horlicullural interests 

 u ill not be forgotten by the authority charged 

 w ith tlie control of the Irish Development grant. 

 There are a large number of inipoitani |-irobleins 

 in gardening waiting svWulion by leseaich 

 workers, aiul an investigation station on the 

 lines of the Fiiglish Royal Horticultural Society's 

 Research Laboralor\ at Wisley is \ery much 

 needed in this countr\-. Ihe natural place for 

 such a laborator)' would be the Royal Botanic 

 (iardens at Glasnevin, where material and con- 

 \ eniences tor research are already at hand. 

 Kew (iardens has ils botanical research labora- 

 tory, why may not lilasnevin have a similar 

 one it ihe necessary grant can be obtained to 

 establish and maintain it? We are rather 

 airaid, howe\er, tlial unless some responsible 

 body of men representing the horticultural 

 interests of the country take the matter up and 

 proceed forthwith to urge the claims of horti- 

 culture upon the authorities charged with the 

 allocation of the funds, very little will be done 

 in the way of research in matters bearing 

 direclh" upon gardening'' as distinct from 

 farming. 



^*' ^* 9^^ 



Last month, in dealing with the technical 

 education of gardeners, we suggested that the 

 Royal Horticultural Society might perhaps be 

 induced to give the country a lead in a move- 

 ment that is making such rapid strides on the 

 other side of the Irish Sea. We made the 

 suggestion because this society is the only 

 public non-local body in the country entitled to 

 act as the popular representative of Horticulture 

 in Ireland. For similar reasons we naturally 

 look to this same society to make an immediate 

 and strenuous effort to secure the expenditure 

 of a fair proportion of the ^9,000 annual de- 

 velopment grant in the prosecution of research 

 directly bearing upon problems of horticultural 

 interest and utility. There should be no 

 difficulty in co-opting a strong- scientific com- 

 mittee for the purpose of advising- the council 

 upon matters bearing" upon the purely technical 

 side of the question. We trust that the present 

 opportunity of doing something- for the develop- 

 ment of Irish horticulture will not be lost 

 throug-h apathy and lack of effort on the part of 

 those who, by their position and influence, are 

 in all such matters the rightful leaders of the 

 country. 



